Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

DUST(SHIELD

DUST(SHIELD, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

At the far end of the jetway. Does this seem weird to you?

pre-trip to-do list

pre-trip to-do list, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Preparation for Chicago

yar·mul·ke

yar·mul·ke, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

For those hot Shabbos nights
Guarding the Golan Heights
I just knit [sic] you a Ventillated Kippah

Happy Birthday, MM

Physics Question from a Client

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From: David Redacted
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2010 11:59 AM
To: Bruce Bortin; Daniel Redacted; Fayedine Redacted; Fred Redacted; HUGH Redacted; JULIA Redacted
Subject: Re. : A physics question that's been -ONLY- sent to smart people.

Dear All,

I have, already, worked out the answer to the following question.  If one, some or all of you can't figure it out, let me know & I will explain the answer.

Now, w/a drumroll, the question.  If a vehicle is moving, regardless of speed & there are a baloon & a hummingbird, untehered & suspended w/in the passenger compartment of the vehicle & the brakes are applied hard: A)Will the humming bird & ballon trave in the same direction?; B)Will they travel in different directions?, and; C) If the answer is "B,", wich direction will they travel & why?
Dave.

______________________________________

Good question, David!

The hummingbird’s motion will continue in the direction that the van was going and dash it’s tiny brains out against the windshield, which is a real shame, because I love hummingbirds. 

The balloon on the other hand will jerk backwards in the van, and here’s the reasoning behind that.  The balloon gets its buoyancy by being lighter than the air in the van. That is, the air’s acceleration of gravity displaces the balloon in the opposite direction of that acceleration. When the van decelerates, the air inside of it decelerates with it, in the direction of the van’s motion. The balloon accelerates in the opposite direction, because the air’s acceleration is the moral equivalent to acceleration in the gravitational field. 

I put this action inside of the {van} subset of {vehicles} because it’s the most likely vehicle for such a scenario to occur in.  I personally know at least three people who have vans, hummingbirds, and tanks of helium, and are always driving around and about with them.  There’s Jimmy Rotundo and his beige ’78 Econoline, Snaps MacDoof drives a VW van, and another fictional character with a fictional SUV which for the sake of this story I’ve decided to classify as a van, on narrative principle.

Jimmy runs a party balloon business out of his van. Don’t tell the cops, but one of the ‘helium’ tanks in the back of the van is actually filled with nitrous, from which Jimmy will now and then take a huff while he’s on the road.  This often leads to sudden deceleration, just like in your question.  Jimmy’s pet hummingbird Mr Mothman rides in a padded cage, secured on the seat beside him to avoid catastrophic beak trauma and similar.

I hope this answers your question.  All answers assume a robust string theory incorporating exactly 10 spatial dimensions and at least one temporal dimension.  When do you expect the Higgs boson will drop at CERN?

xxBB

Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow!

Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow! Mrow!, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Ray's .gif-doppelganger speaks eloquently for him/

Bay Tree

Bay Tree, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Thanks, Cathy.

Where'd That Damn Suttlecock Go?

Where'd That Damn Suttlecock Go?, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

What you get when you buy your badminton set at the dollar store.

How to Submit an Issue to the Annex Log when the Network is Down

How to Submit an Issue to the Annex Log when the Network is Down, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Hey, look--the last post was about bark, and this one's a picture of a log.  Captain Synchronicity, Block That Kick!

Bark

bark 2, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

because I'm a big fan of texture. That's why.

Shark for Moon

Shark for Moon, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

PS she likes it:

____________________

"Gin Lane" by William Hogarth

I was looking around the waiting room at the methadone clinic the other day, and I thought it reminded me of something...

William Hogarth, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

This poem by reverend James Townley accompanied the original print

Gin, cursed Fiend, with Fury fraught, Makes human Race a Prey. It enters by a deadly Draught And steals our Life away. Virtue and Truth, driv'n to Despair Its Rage compells to fly, But cherishes with hellish Care Theft, Murder, Perjury. Damned Cup! that on the Vitals preys That liquid Fire contains, Which Madness to the heart conveys, And rolls it thro' the Veins.

Sorry Seroquel

Sorry Seroquel, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Michael's Zip

Michael's Zip, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

That's a ragged line between disability and substance abuse.

Cake Soundcheck at Art & Soul

Cake Soundcheck at Art & Soul
Originally uploaded by dumbeast

Mary went to Pilates this morning, even though the dreaded Oakland Art & Soul festival was going on.  She figured out how to circumvent the madness & get to her gym, and off she went.

15 minutes after she left, she called home. "I think Cake is playing right now. You might want to get down here. Listen!"  She held her phone up to some low-fi noise.

I couldn't hear what the hell she was talking about, but I was pretty sure that Cake (co-headlining with MC Hammer) wouldn't be playing at 10:45 on Saturday morning.  Hah!  That's a laugh. I hope it's something really embarrassing.  A kid playing the Jonas Brothers on a boombox.  Polysonic Spree. An ironic Austrian Cake cover band named Pfannkuchen.  Whatevs.   I got on my bike and headed down there.  This should be good.

It was Cake, doing a sound check, and they were good.  A few other early birds and I got a free private miniconcert, just off stage left. Thanks for the heads-up, Babe. Sorry I thought of you as "Old Tin-Ear."